Panther in the Rye
by CalvinHobbesGatsby
Summary: James Dean Stark starts at Degrassi, not expecting much to happen, but his life is changed forever when he meets a boy named Rick Murray. I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI.
1. Chapter 1

Look, I know that for this coping technique, we're supposed to write about our daily lives & our parents & all that Modern Family crap, but I'd rather not if it's all the same to

you. Mainly because my old man would hit the roof if i wrote about anything personal like that. He's an ok guy, i guess; but if you stuck a lump of coal up his ass, it would turn

into a diamond. I just want to tell you about some crazy crap that happened to me when I went to Degrassi. Before I had to spend my summer at this rehab facility. After my

sophomore year at Degrassi, i was disgusted by that school. Only 1 dude was spared from my disgust: Rick Murray. Rick was the most hopeful person that i've ever known & am

ever likely to know. All he wanted was to belong & Degrassi screwed him over. Despite his failures, he was a good friend & i care about his story, because the kids of Degrassi

sure don't.


	2. Chapter 2

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

It all started back when I lived in Waukesha. It's a small town in Wisconsin. I used to go to Waukesha High, it had been the 3rd school I'd gone to. I'd been expelled from the

1st 2 for bad behavior & I'd flunked out of the 3rd. I'd been canned. I'd flunked every single subject except English & Gym. Principle Crawford kept telling me to apply myself,

but I cut often & rarely turned work in, so I got canned. My old man damn near took a 2x4 to my ass when he found out that I wasn't welcome at Waukesha High next year. It

wasn't too bad though. My old man had just been offered a promotion for the beer company that he worked at. They offered him a high paying job at their plant in Toronto,

Canada. He'd thought about it, but now that I got canned, he had an excuse to take the job. So, he packed up all of our crap, sold our house, & left the U.S. & headed for

Canada. At the time, I didn't care too much, I swear to God I didn't.

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	3. Chapter 3

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI. The next chapter will be longer, i promise.**

Eventually, we found a place in Toronto & my old man enrolled me some Canadian school. On my 1st day, he drove me in this new truck the company had given him.

"Ok James, we're here." He was talking to me, but I wasn't really listening, I was too bummed out, I was starting a new school in a new country & it didn't help that I was starting halfway through the year.

"James Dean Stark!" he yelled.

"What!" I said as i gave him a look.

"Look, this is a chance to start fresh, you know." I didn't say anything. "Just not to screw it up too much...ok." he said. "I...we need this to work out."

"See you after school, dad" I said as i got out of the car. As i went to the front door, i saw the sign: DEGRASSI COMMUNITY SCHOOL. I

sighed & went on in


	4. Chapter 4

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

The school actually looked pretty nice & there were tons of chicks. As I walked up the steps, I saw a bunch of kids. There were 2 blondes, 1 of which was a Queen Bee, an Italian kid, a scary looking Hispanic girl & a dude who looked like he belonged in a rock band. I didn't really say anything cause they were too busy to notice me.

"Someone tell me i'm hallucinating." The Queen Bee said. I looked & saw that she was looking at this nerdy kid who was talking with the principle: Mr. Raditch & a blonde lady who i assumed was his mom.

"Remember Terri McGregor? The girl that was in a coma last year." the guy from Guitar Center said.

"He's the psycho who put her there. His name's Rick, her ex, he used to beat her" The Queen Bee finished.

"Yeah, & he's your new classmate Emma, he starts 10th grade tomorrow."

So, the other blonde was called Emma, at least I had 1 name.

"We have to do something" Emma said with determination. The scary girl then made a smart ass remark about getting a dolphin bodyguard. Then the bell rang & we all went to class.

After my 1st 2 classes which were pretty boring, I went through the halls & saw 3 members of the Anti Rick force 5 with a new member, he was black with curly hair & he looked like a jock. Suddenly, the Italian & the scary chick came walking.

" _I always knew you_ were _a smart boy, Marco._ Can you believe he said that to me." he said. So I had another name.

"Wow, you guys really handled Raditch." Emma said which left me to assume that Rick wasn't leaving.

The Queen Bee suddenly checked me out.

"I'm digging the purple jacket." she said.

"Thanks" i replied. Guitar center got up & walked over to me.

"I'm Spinner, that's my girlfriend, Paige (The Queen Bee), & that's Jimmy (The Jock), Alex (The Scary one), Emma, (The innocent one), & Marco (The Italian)." he said, introducing them to me.

"My name's Stark, James Stark." i replied. Spinner than looked away,

"Psycho at 12 o' clock." I look & sure enough, Rick comes up to us. "Marco, Paige, Spinner, Jimmy." he said, in a perky voice. Everyone just gave him stares of death. I nodded my head at him.

Suddenly, a teacher comes along with Mr. Raditch.

"That's him" she says, pointing to me.

"James Stark, i presume." he says.

"What can i do you for?" i asked.

"I've done my homework on you, Stark; you have quite the record: physical violence, truancy, foul language, graffiti, smoking in class,disrespecting staff." The Rick haters & even ol' Rick himself stare in awe. "I want you to know Stark, that whatever behavior that you got away with in the States will NOT be tolerated here." Raditch said as he walked away.

"Phony" i said, coughing as i did it. He turned around,

"Excuse me?" he said. I cleared my throat & said

"Phony" at the same time again. Raditch got real mad but just walked off.

"OK" Paige said, walking over to me, "This kid is my hero." she said, laughing, Rick, seeing that he was being ignored, walked off.


	5. Chapter 5

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

The next day, after 2 classes that were boring as Hell, I went to lunch. On my way there, I saw Emma & Paige selling these cancer ribbons, but instead of being pink, they were orange.

"Hi James", Paige said, "you wanna buy a ribbon?"

"What're they for?" I asked, suspecting that is had something to do with Rick.

"To support students against violence, show the school where you stand." Emma said.

"I have a dollar, but you can keep the ribbon, what's this about?" i ask, even though I knew damn well. If it was just about supporting victims of domestic violence, i wouldn't say a word, i'd just shell out the cash, but i didn't know all the details about this Rick guy.

"It's silent protest, we wanna pressure Rick, make his life Hell" Emma said.

"Without breaking any rules whatsoever. Emma's a genius" Paige said excitedly. "There's nothing Raditch can do"

I look & see old man Raditch watching us, he's definently not pleased & if I were a gambling man, i'd bet that he thought I was behind it.

Emma & Paige walk off as I continue to the lunchroom, the place is a zoo. I barely managed to find a table to myself. Everyone is wearing 1 of those orange Ribbons. Suddenly, the psycho kid walked in. He had a quiet look about him. I have to admit, i didn't think much of him, the first time i saw him, I swear to God, i didn't. He was looking for a place to sit, but everyone was avoiding him like he had the Goddam plague. Finally, when he gets to my table, i've had enough & invite him to sit with me.

"You mean it?" he asked, surprised that 1 of these d-bags was giving him the time of day.

"I said it, didn't I". I replied as he sat down.

I could see 300 pair of eyeballs turning my way, i ignored them & turned towards the "Psycho"

"My name's Rick, Rick Murray." he said, offering his hand.

I took it, "Stark, James Stark." i replied.

Rick looked at me, "I like the way you dress, you like someone out of a 50's movie" he said, laughing

I usually wear a Purple leather jacket, a yellow t shirt, blue jeans, & a pair of blue suede shoes. "I hope so, that's the look I was going for"

I was kind of digging this Rick guy, he seemed ok to me.

 **next chapter, James finds out about Terri, REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	6. Chapter 6

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

After school, i was getting ready to head home, when Emma came up to me at my Goddam locker.

"Hey Emma, what's up?" i asked, even though i knew very well what was up.

"What were you doing, sitting next to Rick Murray?" she asked.

"We were eating lunch, what's the big freaking deal."

"Look James, your new here, but Rick used to date a girl named Terri Mcgregor &..."

"& they ended their relationship on bad terms" i said, ending the sentence for here,"Rick told me all about it."

"Did he tell you that he was abusive?" she said.

"No..." i replied but she was on a roll & when some people are on a roll, you just have to let them burn out.

"He put her in a coma!" she shouted. "She might have BRAIN damage".

"Look, I wasn't there ok, I don't know what the Hell happened; ok Emma, I just want to go home." I said, pissed. It took her a few seconds, but she did move her ass. I power walked out of the school & ran into Rick.

"Hey James, how are you?" he asked.

"OK, Emma gave me Hell for having lunch with you." I told him as we started walking.

"I'm sorry James," Rick said, looking down.

"What really happened with you & your ex, Rick?" As we started walking, he began to open up to me about his relationship with Terri Mcgregor. They'd gotten together after Rick left like, a dozen roses in her locker. They'd started dating, but sometimes Rick's temper got the better of him. & Paige & her other friends tried to get Terri to dump his ass, but she wouldn't.

"Then, this 1 time, i tried to stop here from leaving &...she fell & hit her head on a cinder block. That's why she's in a come & that's why everyone at Degrassi hates me." he finished.

I didn't really say anything, mainly because, I didn't know what to say. My father, on 1 of those rare special occasions, when he wasn't drunk off his ass, gave me some advice, "Just because someone's done bad things, that don't make them a bad person". As a consequence, I tend to give people a fair chance. I mean, I didn't know Rick Murray all that well, but he seemed like an OK guy. He just had some rough edges to his personality. Why should I take the word of a blonde chick I just met. We finally got to my place.

"Is this where you live?" Rick asked. "Yep, my old man's dirty little hovel."

"I live right next door." he said as he pointed out his house.

"Nice man." I said,

"You wanna come over & hang out for a bit?" Rick asked.

I thought about it & considering that my old man was most likely drunk off his ass in some Toronto bar, I figured that I had nothing to lose.

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	7. Chapter 7

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

Rick's house was nice, plain but nice. The decor was very high class. As we walked in, Mrs. Murray was there to greet us.

"Ricky your home." she said, wrapping him in a hug. I noticed that she had a accent. "Who's your friend?" she asked, "he looks just like James Dean."

"Mother, this is my friend, James Stark." Rick replied.

"You have a very nice house, Mrs. Murray." I said, trying to be as polite as I could, because between you & me, social interactions with parents, it just ain't really my thing.

"Ricky said that you moved all the way from the United States." She said, bringing out a try of tea & cupcakes.

"Yes ma'mm, i'm just a regular Yankee." I said, trying to laugh & drink tea at the same time. That's 1 of the strange things about having friends over. You can never find snacks around the house when it's just you, but the cookies & cupcakes magically appear whenever you bring friends over. I just can't wrap my head around it. I swear to God, I can't.


	8. Chapter 8

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE, THE QUOTE BELONGS TO J.D. SALINGER**

Eventually, I got into a routine at Degrassi. I tried to keep my head down as much as I could. I did my work, but I still slacked off & quite a few of my grades took a nose dive into the crapper. Rick kept getting shit from everybody. Emma & Paige blocked him when he tried to get to his classes & the cafeteria. That bitch Alex pushed him down whenever the teachers had their backs to him, which was the case more often than not. However, no one gave Rick shit like Spinner & Alex's boyfriend Jay. They hit him, threw paper wads at him, & shoved him into lockers, all day, every day. He tried going to Mr. Raditch but that didn't help at all. The anti-Rick campaign finally hit a boiling point 1 day. Rick & I were in English class & the lady who taught it: Mrs. Kwan, was ok, besides Gym & Media Immersions with Mr. Simpson, it was the only class I could stand. She had us find a quote that spoke to us & we had to read it out loud to the whole class. I was 1st on deck. "I chose a quote from my favorite book: The Catcher in The Rye." I said.

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye & all. Thousands of little kids, & nobody's around, nobody big, that is, except me. & i'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start going over the cliff. I mean, if they're running & they don't look where they're going, I have to come out from somewhere & catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye & all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing i'd really like to be."

"Thank you James" she said as i sat down. "Gavin, would you like to go next?" Spinner got up & started reading his quote, "We were supposed to pick a verse that spoke to our hearts, & this verse by Kid Elrick, speaks to mine. Most guys want a girl to love, a girl with wealth & class, but i wants me a girl with a bootylicious..." That was as far as he got.

"Sit down Gavin." the teacher said as he sat down with cocky smile on his face. Next up was Rick.

"I wanted to read a quote from Mahatma Gandhi." he said. "The weak can never forgive, forgiveness is the attribute of the strong..." Rick said as Spinner threw a paper wad at him.

"Gavin, principle's office. Now" she said as he got up, still looking cocky. As he left, I had to admit that I said something pretty stupid.

"When you get home, tell your mom that I had a great time last night." I said shooting him a wink. Well, all bets were off after that. Spinner came charging at me. The teacher was hardly able to tear us apart.

"All right Mr. Mason & Mr. Stark, both of you to the principle's office." she said as she led us out.

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	9. Chapter 9

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

I waited for a while outside Raditch's office while he dealt with Spinner. After he got out, he left, but not before giving me the finger. When i went in, I could tell that Raditch was pissed.

"So, you're finally in my office." Raditch said in a condesending manner.

"Yep." i replied nonchalntly

"Excuse me?"

"Yep sir" i said sighing.

"Good, now when last we spoke, I told you that I didn't want to see you in my office for any reason. Tell me, why should I waste my time on you, Stark?"

"I dunno, but I have a feeling that you're going to tell me."

"Because it's my job." Raditch said as he stood up. "You take pleasure in causing trouble & I take pleasure in turning neer-do-wells like you into upstanding citizens."

I wanted to barf, If there's 1 thing I hated about Dan Raditch, it was how pretentious he was. He thought that if he gave everyone a swift kick in the ass every 5 minutes they'd stay in line.

"Now I want you to stop this behavior, Stark. Keep your nose clean or you & I are going to have issues, do I make myself clear?"

"Whatever, may I go now...sir?" i said, desperate to get out of there.

"On your way, & remember Mr. Stark, you will have a clean nose, so keep it clean, or i'll clean it for you." Mr. Raditch said as I excused myself. The guy's a phony, plain & simple. Now I know how Holden Caulfield felt when he was dealing with Old man Thurmer at Pency Prep. Why do most principles have to be phonies, Why can't someone else be principle who doesn't hate kids, like Simpson or the science teacher, Ms. Hatzilakos, they ain't phonies.

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	10. Chapter 10

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

After my visit with Raditch, I met up with Rick & he invited me to come to The Dot with him for coffee, The Dot was this place that all the Degrassi kids went to hang out. It was real popular & Rick told me that the food was real good too. As we went in, all the founding mothers & fathers of theAnti-Rick movement gave us death stares.

"How bout we just get our coffee to go, James?" Rick said.

"For sure man." I said as we ordered & got our coffee. We were heading out when Emma stuck her foot out & tripped him. His 2 buck coffee was now all over his clothes. They were laughing & Rick gave that bitch a stare of doom.

"That's it." Jay said as he dragged Rick out of the dot & into an alleyway. I tried to keep up with them, but it was difficult with all of the kids following us. By the time I get up close, Rick's already taken a punch to the gut.

"Who wants the next shot, Spinner?" he says taunting them. Spinner makes a move but the Queen bee keeps her king under control.

"I do." I see Alex coming up to hit Rick, but surprisingly, Emma stops her. "Ribbon campaign's over, Emma." She says.

"Yeah, & so is this." Emma replies. It takes a couple seconds, but the bitch backs up. Then Jay saw me & walked over as everyone watched.

"So, you're friends with the psycho boy, eh." he said coming closer.

I knew that I was in trouble, so I tried to keep my cool. "Maybe I am & maybe i'm not. I didn't realize that it was any of your Goddam buisness." I said, standing my ground. I helped Rick to his feet, then, all the phonies started in on me.

"Aww, look at the little chicken." Jay said in a mocking voice.

"Are you talking to me?" I said, my back was tuned to Jay. No answer. Then, I turned around. "ARE YOU TALKING TO ME?" I shouted. Everyone looked surprise except Jay.

"Yes" he replied. If there's 1 thing that's sure to piss me off, it's being called a chicken.

"You shouldn't call me that." I said, clenching my fist. Then, I backed up, I didn't want to make things worse. "I don't want any trouble." I said. Jay picked up an empty bottle & smashed it against the wall so he could use it as a weapon.

"Come on 50's boy, show me what you got." he said, coming towards me. I kept trying to get away from this ass bandit.

"I said, I don't want any trouble." Jay wouldn't quit though.

"You hear that, the chicken doesn't want any trouble." He said laughing. Then I pulled out my switch blade.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT" I yelled. I was real pissed now. Jay came at me with the bottle, but I managed to get out of his way & cut him in the arm. Then for the next 5 minutes, it as just us trying to cut each other. I was a better knife fighter though, & I managed to cut him a few more times. Finally, little miss save the world came between us.

"Just stop it, all right." She said, she was damn near crying by this time.

"I'm not scared of this bastard." I said, still pissed.

"He started it." Jay said.

"I don't care, Jay. I hate fights, all right, I hate them." Emma said, pushing us apart. Everyone cleared out after that. Emma didn't say anything, but her eyes said that we didn't have to thank her. Sometimes, people can say a lot more when they open their damn eyes & shut their damn mouths. I swear to God, they can.

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	11. Chapter 12

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

Emma walked in & I closed the door behind her. She looked around. She probably didn't think very much of it. My house wasn't much to look at, it was ok, but there were bottles every where. My old man drank a lot & he drank often. At first, i'd tried picking up all the bottles but eventually I gave up. Emma & I sat on the couch.

"So, what brings you to my little slice of damnation?" I asked, partly kidding. As soon as I saw the look on Emma's face, I wish I hadn't said it, some people, you just shouldn't kid around with.

"I wanted to talk to you." She said as I pulled out a cigarette. I'm kind of a cigarette fiend. I smoke when I can. That's another reason I hate going to school. It's hard to get away with smoking.

"You shouldn't do that, it's not healthy." Emma said as she snatched the cigarette out of my damn hand.

"Fine" I said leaning back without my smoke. "Why did you stop Alex from hitting Rick, I thought the whole Anti-Rick campaign was right up your alley."

"Things got out of control & I stopped it, it doesn't mean I like him & it doesn't mean we're friends." She said defensively. "What about you? You pulled a knife on Jay."

"Hey, that asshole had it coming. I had enough of his shit."

Emma leaned back. "You're right, Jay was out of control." she said. "& for your information, i'm done with tormenting Rick, Paige & Spinner can do it themselves."

"Well, if you ask me, you're better off without them. Paige is obsessed with herself, Spinner's an ass, Alex & Jay are both creepy & Jimmy's just your typical jock boy. There're all phonies."

"Yeah, what's your point."

"You're not."

Emma looked at me surprised, "What makes you think that?" she asked

"Well, you're smart, I mean, the way you figured out how to wage a war against Rick right under Radtich's nose." I said.

"James, can I ask you something?" She said, looking at me.

"Shoot." I replied

"Why are you so angry all the time?" She asked

That was a pointed question. I felt I had to answer it though.

"I don't know. i just hate phonies."

"What are your parents like?"

"Well, my old man's nothing but a drunk, he spends every day getting drunk off his ass & he won't quit no matter what & my mom left when I was 3 for her best friend. Apparently, she was bisexual & we never knew. My old man blames me for her leaving." I told her.

He says, "If I was by myself, I could take all my money & go blow it on booze & whores, but I don't have money James...I have you. You can't stay in a school & you lose me every job I get. You keep me moving around, all the time." I said, throwing 1 of his bottles against the wall.

At that point, I started crying in spite of myself. I hate crying, especially in front of other people. Emma got up, walked over & wrapped me in her arms.

"Shh, Shh, it's ok." She said, rocking me like I was a damn baby. Then she did something I didn't expect. She kissed me. Once on each cheek. We stayed like that for awhile, then she told me she was meeting her mom & Mr. Simpson for a family dinner thing. As she left, she put her mouth close to my ear & whispered.

" _You are not a phony, James Stark_." Then she left. As I walked back up to my room, I felt better. I'd never told anyone about my home life before. I'm 1 of those guys that prefers to keep that shit bottled up. As I walked in, Rick looked at me.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing." I told him, & for once in my life. I meant it. I swear to God, I did.


	12. Chapter 13

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

The day after spilling the details of my like life to Cause girl, Emma & I have yet to speak. 1 thing I can say for her is that she is a very good kisser, I swear to God, she is. When I arrive at Degrassi, I see Rick there, whispering to himself.

"Hey Rick." I say, going up to him. "What's up." I ask.

"Oh hey James." he replied, looking up at me. "Not much, I'm just practicing, I'm going to be on this tv show, it's called Whack-Your-Brain."

"No shit." I was impressed that Rick would actually be on a tv show. "How does it work?"

"Well, schools compete against each other to see who's the smartest. It's going to be us against Northern high." Rick said, clearly excited.

"Sweet, well, I'm sure that you're going to kick some serious ass man. Who else is on the team?"

"Me, Emma, Toby, & Heather Sinclair."

I'd only met Toby when Rick briefly introduced us & as for Heather Sinclair, I'd heard rumors about her, (none of them good), but I'd never actually seen her.

I was about to ask why 1 of the Queen bees of Degrassi was taking part in some nerdy quiz game, but I didn't get the chance because Emma walked up to us.

"Hi Emma." Rick said, you could tell that he wanted her. I swear to God, you could.

"Hi Rick" she replied before turning to me. "James, could I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure" I said as we walked off, leaving Rick with a puzzled look on his face. After Emma & I had went under a staircase which seemed private enough, she brought up what I knew she eventually would.

"Look James, about what happened at your house yesterday..." She started, but I cut her off.

"Let me guess, you want to forget that it happened." I said, knowing that was more likely than not the case.

"No James," Emma said as she looked at me. "I've been thinking &... I like you."

Well, that was surprising. "You like me? What could you possibly like about me?"

Emma sighed, "You're handsome, for 1 thing, also, the way you've stuck up for Rick, After, what he did & the way everyone...the way I treated him...you've been such a good friend to him. You may have some rough edges around you James, but you have a good heart.

I was silent for a moment, & before you ask, yeah, I did kind of have a crush on Emma. She was beautiful, she was smart, she could be a little stuck up sometimes, but that was 1 of the best things about her: her independence.

"I like you too, Emma." I said. She smiled as she leaned in & kissed me on my forehead.

"Would you maybe wanna come over to my place tonight, so we can talk." I asked, I didn't know where this was headed & I wanted to know where I stood. I also didn't want Rick to know. He had a major crush on Emma & the LAST thing he needed was his best friend taking her away from him.

"Sure, I'd like that, does 5 work." she asked.

"Sure, my dad'll probably be out drinking, he got promoted yesterday."

Emma smiled. "I'll be there" she said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek & walked away.

God damn. She was so beautiful. I swear to God, she was.

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	13. Chapter 14

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

After my talk with Emma, I was conflicted. I mean, I did have a crush on her, but I was usually not one to fall in love, Was I really in love with Emma? or did I just think that she was sexy. I wasn't sure, I swear to God, I wasn't. I walked back to Rick, who was still practicing for Whack-Your-Brain.

"James." Rick said as I walked up, "What did Emma want?" he asked. "Not much, she just wanted to see if she could come to my place after school. We're working on a project for Simpson." I said, lying to him. I didn't like lying to him, but I didn't know if Emma & I were going to go anywhere & I didn't want to cause him any unnecessary grief. Rick suddenly pulled me aside.

"James, are you in love with Emma?" Rick asked with fear in his eyes.

"No" I said, not exactly lying to him. I wasn't sure what my feelings were.

"Oh ok, I was just wondering, because...I think I have a chance with her. She's been so great ever since the beat down in the alley & if I can win Whack-Your-Brain, I think she'll like me." Rick said full of hope.

I felt so damn sorry for Rick, I knew that Emma didn't like him that way, but if he found out, he'd be heartbroken. At that moment, I decided that if Emma did ask me out, I would say no. I couldn't do that to Rick, I couldn't hurt him the way everyone else had.

After a day of getting slammed into lockers for associating with Rick Murray, I finally got to relax at home. I was strumming a little bit on my guitar when I heard a knock at the door. I looked outside & sure enough, it was Emma.

"Hello Emma." I said as she came in.

"Hey James." She replied as we went up to my room.

After I closed the door, we both looked at each other. I didn't know how to let her down, but she actually did a pretty good job of it.

"Look James, I've thought a lot about it &... i'm worried that i'm just using you as a rebound. I broke up with my ex over the summer & I had a fight with Liberty over it."

"I know what you mean." I told her. "Look, the truth is...Rick has a crush on you."

"What?" Emma said in shock, apparently, she hadn't know.

"Yeah, & he's gone through so much this year, I can't put him through any more pain than he's already in. I mean, Hell, he's my friend, if we went out & he found out, it would destroy him. I can't betray him, Emma." I said.

She looked at me. "I understand." She told me as she held my hands. She was quiet for a while & then she said something that came as a surprise.

"Is Rick your best friend?"

"Well, he's the only friend I have at Degrassi, so he'd have to be, wouldn't he?" I replied stating the obvious.

"Well" Emma said, looking at me. "What if you had another friend?" she asked.

"Like who?" I said, even though I knew where she was going with this.

"Me, smart one." Emma said laughing. "If I can't be your girlfriend, I might as well be your best friend."

I smiled, I'd never had a girl that was just a friend. You know something that really grinds my god damn gears: Apparently, dudes & chicks can't be friends, they either have to be boyfriend & girlfriend or enemies or nothing at all & that's such bullshit. I swear to God, it is.

"Yeah Emma, I'd really like that." I said.

Emma smiled back & then saw the acoustic guitar on my bed. "You play guitar." She asked.

"Yep, ever since I was 5, I would say that i'm a professional musician, but the only time that I ever made any money was when my old man gave me 5 bucks to stop playing." I said, remembering the easiest 5 bucks i'd ever made.

Emma laughed out loud, "Can I hear it?" she asked.

"What the Hell." I said as we sat down on the bed. I tuned it a little bit & then I started playing _Margaritaville._ It was my favorite song that wasn't an Elvis song, As I played, Emma & I swayed along with the music, forgetting about all of the drama with Rick & just enjoying ourselves, not as lovers, but as real friends. After... everything that happened, thinking about that night always made me feel better. I swear to God, it did

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	14. Chapter 15

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

As the days passed & the Whack-Your-Brain competition got closer, Rick kept taking shit from all the morons at Degrassi. As did I. Paige wasn't too bad, but the worst were Jimmy Brooks, Spinner, Jay, & Alex. They messed with us every chance they got. It got so bad that Alex even brought up the subject of getting Rick expelled during a meeting of Student Council. She was the VP, so she had to be taken serious, thankfully Marco, the president, after much debating, vetoed the idea. On Thursday, 1 week before Whack-Your-Brain, as I was walking past the Student Council office, I heard Alex talking to Marco about me.

"Look Alex, James isn't like Rick, Rick put a girl in a coma, James hasn't done anything." Marco said.

"That's bull, James probably has a rap sheet a mile long." Alex replied. I was so pissed off & I was tired of taking abuse from these losers that I finally told miss Nunez what I thought of her.

"Well, at least i'm not a skank from the trailer park." I said, poking my head in. Well, Alex got real pissed at that. She got up & started chasing me down. I ran down the hall with her right behind me when we almost ran into Mr. Simpson.

"James, Alex." he said, folding his arms. "What's the rush?"

"Yeah, Alex." I asked sarcastically, "what is the rush?" Alex glared daggers at me. She knew that if she told Simpson what i'd said about her, she'd have to admit that she was talking about me first & she didn't want to go down with me.

"Nothing, Mr. Simpson." Alex said, walking over to me, smiling a fake smile. "I just wanted to tell James that I like his jacket."

Mr. Simpson nodded, "She's right James, your jacket is pretty cool."

"Thank you, Mr. Simpson." I said, knowing that i'd won. Alex walked away but I knew that she'd try to get some payback on me later. Later on, I joined Rick for lunch. He'd spent another day being reminded that he was the scum of Degrassi.

"Man this sucks, the whole school hates me for no reason, Hell, even my old man didn't hate me this quickly, it took him a couple years." I said

Rick just said there, "You don't deserve this James." he said quietly, "No one does."

I thought for a while, then I had an idea. I remembered that my old man was going off to to a casino with his brewing buddies for the weekend & he'd left the keys to his 80's Mercedes in his room.

"You know what we do deserve Rick: A vacation." I said, grinning at him.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked, surprised.

"My old man's going to a casino this weekend & I have the keys to his 1981 Mercedes convertible. We're taking a day off."

Rick smiled, clearly he was on board, "Where're we going, James?"

"You ever been to Buffalo?" I asked.

"In New York, i've never been to the U.S." he said.

"it's only an hour & 42 minutes away from Toronto. We'll leave tomorrow, we'll see the sights, we'll rent a hotel room & we'll make a day of it.

"I'm in." Rick said excitedly.

"In what?" We looked over & saw Emma walk over to our table.

"James & I are going to Buffalo tomorrow." Rick said. "Why don't you come with us."

"I'm not really 1 to skip school." Emma said.

"Come on Emma, live a little." I said, pleading with her. "We'll leave early in the morning, we'll call in sick, & we'll be back by 3:30, right as everybody gets out."

Emma thought about it. I could see the internal struggle in her face, she didn't want to, but at the same time, she did.

"Well, i've never been to New York before..." she said.

"Yes." Rick said, pumping his fist.

"All right, here's the deal, do you 2 have passports.?" Rick & Emma nodded. "All right, get 'em & be ready to go by 7, that's when the doors open. Tell you parents that you're going early, make something up, i'll come pick you guys up. if traffic is good, we should be there by 8:42, about 12 minutes after school starts." I said, telling them the plan.

"What about money?" Rick asked.

"Don't worry, i've got it covered, I know where my dad hides his emergency stash." I assured them. "Rick, bring a map from home, you're the navigator. Emma, bring a camera, in case of any Kodak moments." I said laughing.

Rick & Emma nodded as I told them what to bring.

"My God, this is going to be awesome." Emma said, smiling.

"Yeah it is." I replied. "Now remember, this conversation never happened."

"Mum's the word." Rick said as Emma did the sign of zipping her lips. Suddenly, the bell rang & we all went to our next class, I tried to pay attention, but I was too damn excited, I swear to God, I was.

 **IT'S JAMES STARK'S DAY OFF. LOL. REVIEWS & FEEDBACK APPRECIATED.**


	15. Chapter 16

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI, _I COVER THE WATERFRONT_ IS THE PROPERTY OF JOHNNY GREEN  & EDWARD HEYMAN**

The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual. I got up, did all the normal stuff, breakfast, getting dressed, etc. Then, I went out to the garage. There she was: My old man's 1981 Mercedes convertible. It was a thing of pure beauty. My old man loved this car more than his own son. I grabbed the keys & slid inside. I felt like the king of the world as I put my favorite shades. I backed out of the garage into the sun. As I was driving, I felt like I was flying. First, I went to Rick's place. Rick was pretty surprised when he saw my old man's 80's Mercedes.

"That is an awesome car." He said.

"You bet your ass it is." I replied as he got in & buckled up. On the way to Emma's house, we stopped at a pay phone.

"Rick, what's your old man's name?" I asked as I put in some coins.

"Adam"

I dialed the number for Degrassi & I waited.

"Degrassi Community School. Dan Raditch speaking."

"Hello Mr. Raditch, this is Adam Murray, I'm calling about my son Richard, he's feeling quite ill & won't be coming in today." I said in a really phony voice.

"Oh, i'm sorry to hear that, Mr. Murray."

"Thank you, if you could have Toby Issacs pick up Richard's assignments, i'd be very much obliged."

"Very well, I hope Richard feels better." Raditch said.

"I'm sure he will, good day." I said as I hung up.

"I can't believe he bought it." Rick said

"1 of my worst performances & he never doubted it for a second." After that, we went over to Emma's house. She was waiting for us & she too was stunned by my old man's 80's Mercedes.

"My God, this car is awesome." Emma said, getting in. We drove until we found another pay phone.

"Can you talk like your mom?" Emma nodded, I handed her some change & she made the same call to Raditch. She asked him to give her assignments to Manny Santos. Raditch didn't even think twice, I swear to God, he didn't.

After Emma hung up, we hit the open road.

"Let James Stark's Day Off begin!" I shouted.

We drove out of Toronto & around Lake Ontario as we headed toward the border. Emma was a little guilty about ditching, but she got over it. I mean, maybe making fake phone calls is childish & stupid, but then again, so is high school.

After we crossed the border & got into Buffalo, we all started getting excited, I have to admit, Buffalo did look pretty cool. There was so much to do. Rick was reading the map & trying to figure out the best things to do.

"We should go to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery." Rick said.

"First, we should go to the Buffalo Zoo." Emma said, grabbing the map

I was about to say something when I saw the Kleinhans Music Hall, home of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. They were having a tribute to Jazz.

"We're going to the music hall first I said." Emma & Rick probably would've said something, but since the trip wouldn't have happened without me, they decided to pick their battles. We went into the music hall & it was pretty nice. Unfortunately, the tickets were all sold out. That didn't stop us though, we snuck in through a back door. We could hear the music pretty well from there. The best song they played was, _I Cover The Waterfront_. We all liked that song  & even I got into it. Rick & I were pretending to serenade Emma, lipsyncing the words. I went first.

 _I cover the waterfront,_

 _I'm watching the sea,_

 _Will the one I love,_

 _be coming back to me?_

Rick went next.

 _I cover the waterfront,_

 _in search of my love,_

 _and i'm covered by_

 _a starlit sky above._

Well, Emma got a real kick out of that. After the concert, we snuck back out & headed over to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. All of the art there was really amazing. They had all different types, it was really interesting to see all the different styles. The most fun though, was making jokes about the nude statues, Once we were done there, we finally went to the Buffalo Zoo. There were a lot of different types of animals & of course, Emma wanted to see them all. While we were waiting for her to get her fill of animals, Rick & I went to the gift shop, Rick bought her a stuffed dolphin, apparently, she'd tried to get Student Council to raise funds to adopt a dolphin in the wild, but Alex shot her idea down without a single word. I went & bought us all shot glasses with our names on it. They had 1 for me, Rick, & Emma. When Emma got back, Rick gave her the dolphin.

"For you, milady." Rick said

"Thanks Rick," Emma replied as I came over.

"Who wants shots?" I said as I handed them each a shot glass with their name on it,

"Thanks James." Rick said as he gave me a fist bump & Emma gave me a hug.

"Who's hungry?" I asked, "We have time to eat before we need to head back."

"Definetly." Emma said as we all went to the Mercedes. We stopped at this place called Taste of Silcily. I had a calzone as Emma had pasta & Rick got a pepperoni pizza. After a delicious desert of Coconut Cream Pie, we got back in the Mercedes & started heading back to Toronto.

As I predicted, we got back to Toronto around 3:30. I parked the car close to Degrassi. Emma & Rick waited as I went & got their assignments. I found Toby & he gave me Rick's stuff.

"Hey James, was Rick really sick or did he just need a break from all these jerks?" Toby asked.

"A little of both." I replied as I went to find Manny. I found her & she gave me Emma's assignments.

"Tell her to call me." Manny said.

"Will do."

I went back to the Mercedes with all their homework, then we drove off before anyone could see us. I dropped Emma off first.

"Thanks for everything James." she said as she gave me a kiss on the cheek & went inside.

"Hey Emma." I called out to her. "In life, there's lots of things you have to do, but sometimes, you gotta make time for the good stuff." She smiled as she went in. Rick I were surprised at this, but neither of us said anything. After that, I dropped Rick off at his place.

"Thanks James...for everything." Rick said as he gave me a bro hug. I in turn gave him a salute as I drove off. I got back to my place & parked my old man's 80's Mercedes. He would never notice. As I went up to my room, I felt like I was on top of the world. It had been a perfect day. As I was to learn in the next few days though, when you're on top, there's no where to go but down.

 **THE NEXT CHAPTERS TAKE PLACE DURING _TIME STANDS STILL_. REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	16. Chapter 17

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

The weekend after our day off, I didn't really want to go back to school, but I didn't really have any choice. I mean, someone had to look out for Rick. Also, I wanted to see Emma.

What I didn't know was that this was THE WEEK. Nothing struck me as weird. Monday was pretty crappy, Tuesday was lame. I mean, the douchbags were being douchbags but, that was par for the coarse at Degrassi. The first time that I noticed something was off was on Wednesday. It was 2 days before Whack-Your-Brain & Rick was studying like a madman. I in turn did my part & quizzed him with questions he'd written out for me.

"Sauron rules over what territory?" I asked.

"Mordor, come on James give me a hard one." Rick said.

I look over the paper. "The Confederation bridge links Prince Edward Island to what Canadian province?"

"New Brunswick. Just out of curiosity, did your dad ever find out about the trip."

"Well, the Mercedes looked the same, but he noticed a lot of his booze bucks were missing." I said.

"What did he do?" Rick asked.

"Well, he spent about 2 hours, beating the shit out of me, then he locked me in my room."

"Wait, Emma said she saw you at The Dot." Rick said, puzzled.

"He locked the door, he forgot about the windows." I said smirking.

"YO RICHAAAAARD!"

We looked around & there they were, Spinner Mason & Jimmy Brooks: Tweedle Dick & Tweedle Dick-head.

"Hey buddy." Spinner said. We kept walking, trying to ignore him. "Hey man, I said hi, it's rude not to say hi back."

Rick finally gave in, hoping that if he said something, the dickless wonders might piss off.

"Hi Spinnner." he said, defeated.

"Hi" Spinner replies

"New Haircut?"

"Yes it is."

I look & see that Spinner has gotten himself this really weird haircut, half of it was buzzed, the other half was flipped.

"New chapeau?" Jimmy asks as he snatches the beret that Rick was wearing off his head. "Aw man, this is nice." he says as he tosses it to Spinner.

"Hey, this is nice." Spinner says, "So soft, where'd you get it...i know where you can find it." he says as he tosses Rick's beret in the dumpster.

"Real mature, prick." I say, i was getting tired of their shit, I swear to God, i was.

"Bite me" Spinner says as Rick goes to get the beret, "You know what, we'll help you.

I watch as Spinner & Jimmy follow Rick to search for the beret.

"Oh there." Spinner says pointing & in a split second, the 2 toss Rick into the dumpster.

"Well, I hope you find it, along with a little snack." Jimmy says.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow freak." Spinner adds.

"What the Hell did you do that for?" I asked.

"Because it's fun loser, why, what are you going to do, kick our asses?" Jimmy asks.

"No, I think i'll do that a little more publically." I say, crossing my arms.

"Whatever man." Spinner says as the 2 walk off.

"Have fun in the communal showers, Jimmy...LOSERS." I shout after them. I help Rick out of the dumpster. "You ok Rick?" I ask.

Rick doesn't say anything, but I can see the hate in his eyes. I mean, it freaked the shit of me. I knew he was going to do something to those cockshiners... but even I didn't know what was coming...none of us did, but based on the anti Rick campaign, maybe we should have...

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED, I'D LIKE INPUT, SHOULD RICK LIVE OR DIE? SHOULD EMMA & JAMES END UP TOGETHER?, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK**


	17. Chapter 18

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

After the incident with Spinner & Jimmy, I go to my English class. Mrs. Kwan isn't the easiest to get along with, but i'm able to do my work, keep my head down & get by. During class, Spinner & I took great pains to discretly express our loathing for each other. After class, I had a few minutes to spare before Media Immersions, so I went outside for a smoke. As I was smoking, I saw Rick walking towards Spinner's car, he had a can of spray paint in his hand. I watched as he shook it & then sprayed a big "X" on Spinner's car. Then he went to another car & did the same thing. After Rick finished, he looked up & smiled at me. I didn't know what to say, so I just walked back inside, not wanting to get involved. As I walked into Simpson's class, I noticed that no one was there yet. I set my crap down & suddenly, I heard music coming from Simpson's desk, he was really getting into it, bopping along & singing. I walked up & suddenly he heard me.

"Oh, hey James, i'm sorry, i didn't see you there." he said, embarrased.

"That song was cool, what's it called, sir?" I ask.

Simpson stands up. "You can call me Snake if you want, just not sir." he says. "It's called _Everybody Wants Something_ by _The Zit Remedy_."

"Sounds like a pretty cool band, Snake, who was shredding those licks?" I asked. I noticed the guitarist & he was pretty cool.

"Well." Snake says smiling, "That's actually me, it was me & a couple of friends back when I went to Degrassi."

"You got chops, man."

"Come on." Snake said, trying to be all modest & shit.

"You think you could show me?" I ask.

Snake thinks about it for a minute, "Come on." As he heads out, he sees Liberty walking in. "Oh, Liberty, could you just ask everyone to just stay in here, i'll be back in a couple of minutes." Liberty nods as Snake & I make our way to the music room. He pulls out 2 guitars: 1 acoustic & 1 electric. He hands me the acoustic & starts teaching me the guitar part of the song. In a few seconds, I have it down pat.

"That's it, Man you're good, James, I tell you, if Me, Joey, Wheels & you had been together, we would have been big." Snake says as we started jamming. We really took off, we're both singing & shredding on our guitars to the song. We got so into it, that we didn't notice that the class, including Rick, Emma, Toby, & Liberty were all watching us. Suddenly, I hear Emma.

"All right guys." she said as Rick & Toby started jamming out, the whole class was clapping along, it was like a god dam concert. I swear to God, it was. We finished our jam session & then went back to class. After class, Rick & I were talking.

"I gotta say James, you & Simpson were on fire." Rick said.

"Yeah we were, I gotta say, for an old dude, he's pretty cool." I replied. "Hey Rick...whose cars were you tagging?"

"Spinner & Jay's." He said. "It's time they learn that if you screw with Rick Murray, he'll screw with you back." Rick said as he rounded the corner & bumped into none other than Degrassi's MVP: Jimmy Brooks.

"You might want to watch where you're going, loser." Jimmy says, massaging his wrist. I roll my eyes, he's such a phony, Rick didn't even hit him that hard.I swear to God, he didn't.

"You might want to watch where you're going, Neanderthal." Rick counters back. I'm definetly surprised, Normally, Rick & the students of Degrassi have a give & take relationship: they give him shit & he takes it. Now, he's giving back what he gets.

"What'd you just say?" Jimmy say as he gets in Rick's face. Rick can't win, but he ain't backing down. Suddenly, Snake rounds the corner.

"Morning sir," Jimmy says, going into brown noser mode. "I have a hall pass, i'm good."

"Quick, the world's 3 largest rivers in order." Snake says out of the blue.

"Uhh...let's see..." Jimmy says, maybe Rick's right about him being a Neanderthal. "The Nile...Amazon...& the Yangtze." He's right, since that's the only geography fact that I remember from the only time I ever cracked open the textbook.

"Most NBA championships?" Snake asks, on a roll.

"Boston Celtics, why?" Jimmy asks, he sounds just as confused as we are.

"Ok well, we've got our Geography & Sports covered. Rick, meet your new teammate." Snake says

"WHAT?" Rick shouts, clearly unhappy, Jimmy doesn't look to thrilled either.

"Heather Sinclair just came down with Mono, her loss is Jimmy's gain, welcome to Whack-Your-Brain." Snake says as he walks away. "By the way, I had fun jamming with you James, we should do it again sometime." He said, winking at me.

"That would be great, Snake." I said. I like Snake, he's a good guy, he tries to understand his students, which is more than I can say for a lot of other teachers.

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	18. Chapter 19

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

After math & science with Hatzilakos, I was ready for lunch, I swear to God, I was. I was heading to the cafeteria when I saw Rick & Toby walking together.

"Hey Rick, how's it going?" I asked.

Rick gave me a look, "I'm stuck with Jimmy Brooks as my teammate, how does it look like i'm doing?" he replied. It might have been a little snarky, but considering how much of an ass Jimmy was, I had a feeling that I deserved it.

Toby turned to Rick, "Why don't you just go to Simpson & explain?"

"Yeah Rick, Snake's a pretty understanding guy."

"& give him more reason to make my life Hell, why don't I just wear a t shirt that says "sports suck" while i'm at it." Rick said. I was about to say something when Emma came up to us.

"Hey guys" She says looking excited, "I made flashcards, do you want me to quiz you by category or should I shuffle?" she asks, holding up a fat stack of white index cards.

"I'm quitting." Rick said. I was definently surprised, for the past 2 weeks, Rick had been so excited about Whack-Your-Brain, he was hoping that it would be a way to be the hero & transform himself from Rick Murray, girlfriend abuser, to Rick Murray, King of the nerds.

"Rick, the finals are tomorrow." Emma said, clearly concerned. I could see why: Rick was smarter than her, Toby & Jimmy put together, if he dropped out, they might as well drop out as well, because without him, they wouldn't have had a chance. I swear to God, they wouldn't have.

"I told you man, just go to Simpson." Toby said, trying to calm him down, "just ask him for a rethink on his decision."

"If Jimmy's booted now, he'll know it was me." Rick countered. Once again, Rick was right, if Jimmy hated him now, he'd be even worse if Rick got his ass kicked of the WYB team.

"Jimmy & them, they don't like you because they don't know you." Emma points out

"Emma, I thought that the reason they didn't like Rick was because they knew him." I said.

Rick nodded, "So"

"So, you came back to Degrassi to show everyone that you've changed, right?" Emma said. Rick didn't say anything. I had an urge to ask her how that was working out, but I decided against it. "So, work with Jimmy on the team, show him you're not the guy he thinks you are." We round the corner & see Rick's locker. There's 2 pieces of paper on it, they both say, "GO HOME FREAK." The handwriting is poor, but the message is clear.

"You think they wanna know who I am?" Rick asks seeing another reminder that he is the bottom of the food chain at Degrassi. "They wanna torture me."

Emma looks at his locker & then she goes & tears the papers off & leaves them crumpled on the ground. "Rick, we need you on the team, so you need to do something." She smiles at Rick before walking away.

Rick turns to us & nods, "I think i'll go to Radtich." he says with determination.

"God be with you." I said, "I'd go, but I have a restraining order against phonies." Rick nodded as he turned to go into Raditch's office.

"Come on James." Toby said, "They're having Shelia's special sauce today in the cafeteria."

"Im down" I say as i follow him, as were walking, I figured that Raditch would help Rick & take Jimmy down a peg or 2.

What a dumbass I was...

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	19. Chapter 20

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

Lunch is pretty uneventful & my next class is boring as Hell. The whole time I keep thinking about Rick. I mean, Jimmy Brooks is his 4th biggest enemy, behind Spinner, Jay & Alex. I honestly don't know how the Hell he's going to survive being stuck with Jimmy. After class lets out, I go to the gymnasium. Rick said that the Whack-Your-Brain team is training with Snake, although, if you ask me, Rick really doesn't need any training. I mean, the guy is a living Wikipedia, I swear to God, he is. I wait by the doors for about 7 minutes until the whole team walks out.

"Hey James." Rick said, fist bumping me.

"Hey Rick." I replied.

"James, how was your last class?" Emma asked.

"Boring as Hell." I told her.

"Amazing trivia skills, Jim." Rick says to Jimmy, completely out of the blue.

"Thanks, you were good too." Jimmy answers back. Well, I was definitely surprised. Here he was, Degrassi's own MVP Jimmy Brooks standing up for Rick Murray, the guy who'd accidentally put his friend into a coma. Was there a chance that he might actually be getting into his big boy pants & deciding to stop acting like a child? I was thinking about this when Spinner, Jay, & Alex came up, they had most likely figured out that Rick had tagged their rides. Thankfully, I had my switch on me.

"Yo Jimmy." Spinner says walking up to us. _OK, maybe he doesn't know about XX_ , i thought. "Hey Dog Meat, you got something on your shirt." Rick, like a dumb ass looks down & Spinner thumps him. I roll my eyes at Spinner & Rick. Spinner for being so immature & Rick for falling for 1 of the oldest tricks in the book.

"That's weak, grow up." Jimmy says. He actually stood up for Rick, I have to admit, I was impressed.

"Oooh, Ricky found a friend." Alex said being her usual bitchy self.

"Give it a rest." Jimmy says, getting in their faces. "It's boring." We all walked away from the Anti Rick Trio & as I turned around, I saw Rick turn & put is arms in the shape of an X. I have to admit, that took some serious balls on his part. Even Alex was surprised. Jay & Spinner were probably plotting on how to get some payback on him.

After school, Emma, Rick & I were walking home & my place was on the way to theirs. We were talking about Jimmy not being a douche for once when all of the sudden, my old man came out of my god dam house & he was pissed off.

"JAMES DEAN STARK!" he shouted. I could see that he was obviously drunk.

"What happened now?" I asked when he grabbed me by my shirt.

"I was taking MY Mercedes out for a spin, when I saw that their were miles added on. A LOT OF MILES!" I groaned, I'd forgotten to fix the speedometer. "Now, I'm going to beat you so bad, your kids will come out of the womb in pain." he shouted as he smacked me across the face.

"Leave him alone!" Emma shouted as she rushed over to me.

"You better get out of here." My old man said as he took off his belt. "I don't care who's kid you are, you come between me & my sorry excuse of a son & I'll tan your hide." he said.

"Emma, please just go." I said, I didn't want him to find out that she'd joined me on my day off & have Snake be pissed at her. I mean, it was my idea. Emma didn't budge though. "Rick, please make her go."

Rick didn't move for a second, but then went & started pulling her away. She was tearing up as he lead her away. Once they were gone, my old man really laid into me with the belt. It hurt like Hell, I swear to God, it did.

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	20. Chapter 21

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

I gotta say, the beating hurt, I swear to God it did. After about an hour of getting the shit beat out for me for taking the Mercedes out of the garage, my old man went back to drinking & watching hockey. Back when we lived in Wisconsin, my old man had thought that Hockey was a stupid sport for stupid people, however, once we'd settled in, he actually started liking it. He always got a kick out of watching a couple of Canadians beating the living shit out of each other on the ice. After he was done, I went upstairs to relax & play my guitar. It always puts me at ease. I fall asleep playing Elvis tunes on my 6 string psychiatrist.

I wake up the next morning bruised & in a little bit of pain, but alive. I get dressed & head down stairs. my old man's stumbling around, hung over from last night's victory over the forces of sobriety. I quietly get my shit & head out the door. I don't need another beating. I'm sure that if I need my ass kicked, the good kids of Degrassi Community School will be happy to oblige. First, I head over to Rick's place. The Whack-Your-Brain competition is today & it's going to be broadcasted on Canadian TV. Needless to say, the stakes are high. I knock on the door & Mrs. Murray opens it.

"Hello James." she says in her funny accent.

"Hello, Mrs. Murray, I just wanted to see if I could walk Rick to school." I told her.

"Come on in." she said. I walked in & saw Rick putting on a navy blue suit.

"Getting dressed to kill, eh." I said, laughing.

"Hey James." he said as his mother keeps fixing his pants.

"All set, a year from now, you'll be the same size as your father." Mrs. Murray said.

Rick groaned. "I don't want a sales job, I don't want any job." he says.

"Join the club man." I respond. I can feel for not wanting to be just another average Joe who punches the clock & just pisses his life away at a job he hates.

"He doesn't like being sent out of town, Ricky." Mrs. Murray says. "Stay here, I'll get the jacket. After Rick's mom leaves, he comes up to me.

"How are you doing, after last night, I mean?" Rick asks.

"it's fine, just another day in Hell's tavern." I say sarcastically. "Can we just not talk about it?"

Rick nods & I feel relief as the doorbell rings. Rick goes to get in & in walks Toby Isaacs.

"Hey Toby." Mrs. Murray says as she comes back in. "Are you as excited as Ricky, the lights, the camera, the thrill of performance. Ricky tells me that you & you're new friends..."

"Jimmy & Emma." Rick says, filling in the blank

"Are become quite popular at school." Mrs. Murray finished. That caught me off guard. Emma, I understand, but Jimmy? Up until yesterday, Jimmy & Rick had been having a give & take relationship. Jimmy gave him shit & Rick took it.

"Jimmy?" Toby asked, clearly he was just as surprised as I was.

"And to think I wanted you to move to another school." Mrs. Murray said.

"Mother, you worry too much, pretty soon, Toby & I'll be running the place." Rick said withy confidence.

"um...yeah, we're the coolest." Toby said uneasily.

"What am I, chop liver?" I say, pretending to be offended.

Rick comes over to me, "of course I can't forget the Lancelot to Toby's Merlin & My king Arthur." he says laughing.

"Well, have a wonderful day, I'll be watching at work, OK." Rick's mom says. She kisses Rick good bye as we walk out the door. As Rick & Toby were talking, I have to admit I was a little worried. Rick & Toby were by no means popular. Was he just saying that to calm his mom down or did he really think that winning Whack-Your-Brain was going to make him more popular. I didn't know what would happen after he won, but anything would have been better than what did happen.

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	21. Chapter 22

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

As we got to Degrassi, the local TV station was already there to cover Whack-Your-Brain. Rick went over to talk to Emma as Toby & I went inside where Jimmy was waiting. After Rick came inside, I wished him luck.

"Kick some ass & take some names." I told him.

"You know it." Rick said, fist bumping me. The whole time, he was staring at Emma. It was no secret that Rick had the hots for Emma, I myself had been able to put my feelings for her aside & be content in The Friend Zone. As i'm going to my class, I run into the queen bee herself: Paige Michalchuk.

"Tell Rick that Raditch wants his suit back." she says. I laugh, it's a pretty good comeback.

"Why don't you tell him yourself?" I ask as I start to walk away.

"Maybe I will." She says, wearing that smirk of hers. "Hey, can we talk?"

I turn around to face her, "About what?" She comes face to face with me.

"Look hun, i'm sorry about what happened with Jay that 1 day at the Dot. Rick's a psycho, but, Jay shouldn't have forced you into a fight. " she said.

"you have a right to be mad at Rick, he hurt your friend & I don't condone that, but he's really my only friend, besides Emma." I reply.

"Well, maybe we could be friends." Paige says, I'm surprised, The queen bee wants to be my friend? She looks sincere though.

"Sure." I say. Paige smiles as she goes over to Rick to try out her joke.

I went through English with Kwan, then I cut math to go to the gym to cheer Rick on. Eventually, the show started. A cool black guy came on stage & I could tell that he was the host.

"Good Morning folks & welcome to Toronto's favorite quiz show! We are back to attack your cranium &...

"WHACK-YOUR-BRAIN!" both teams shout on cue.

"We got Ya boy Joe & we got a good game for you today: Northern High is getting to go up against Degrassi C.S. Both these teams are ready, let's not waste anymore time, hands on buzzers, here we go."

Joe asks a lot of hard questions that no average person would know the answers to. Rick steals the show, Emma & Toby help & Jimmy handles the sports stuff, but it seems as if Rick is taking on Northern High single handed.

"All right." Joe says, "The score is Northern: 180, & Degrassi: 170. Reminder, in case of a tie game, each team will choose 1 player for the lightning round." Joe than asks a question about Golf, I don't play golf so I don't understand it. Jimmy also look at a loss. Suddenly, Rick hit the buzzer.

"Bobby Jones..." he says nervously. The gym is deathly quiet.

"Tie game!. Degrassi & Northern at 180, stick around, we'll be back in a moment with the Lightning round." Joe says.

I see Rick & Jimmy going into the bathroom & I follow them inside.

"Hey Rick, nice job man." I say, slapping him on the back.

"Just kicking ass right." he says, trying to be modest. Then I turn to Jimmy. "Nice job man." I say offering my fist.

"Thanks man." Jimmy says, returning the fist. "So let me ask you a question." he says turning to Rick, "how did you become such an encyclopedia?"

"I read a lot." Rick says. "I have a lot of time to myself." Rick replies. Jimmy nods, that tends to happen when everyone hates you. "I, uh, thought sports was your territory."

"Yeah, about that, I had a brain cramp, & anyway, golf is not a sport." Jimmy said, trying to explain himself. We all laugh as Jay & Spinner walk in.

"Hey man, that was so sweet, you're like a know-it-all trivia machine." Spinner says enthusiastically, catching me off guard.

"The competition is money in the bank with my boy right here." Jimmy says, patting Rick on the back.

"Nice, you doing the lightning round?" Jay asks.

"Affirmative." Rick says in classic nerd fashion.

"It's probably better him than me right." Jimmy says as he walks out leaving us even.

"We're cool man." Jay says. Now i'm really surprised. Rick smiles & walks out. I move to leave, but before I do, I decide to put Jay Hogart to the test.

"Hey Jay," I say as he faces me. "I'm sorry about our little blade fight in the alley."

Jay smiles at me. "It's cool man, I called you out & you answered the call, you got balls, Stark." he says.

I nod at him as we fist bump. "See you around." I say as I walk out.

I thought we were cool.

I thought they'd changed.

I thought a lot of things.

Now I think that if i known what they were going to do, I would've decked those sons of bitches, I swear to God, I would've.

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	22. Chapter 23

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

After the break, Whack-Your-Brain went back on the air. Some kid went up for Northern & began answering questions.

"The deepest place on Earth?" Joe asks.

"The Mariana Trench." The kid answers.

"Time!" Joe shouts as the clock runs out, "Northern with 40 points, good job." he says as the kid goes back to his team. "Alright Degrassi, who's up?"

Rick goes towards Joe, but stops by Emma & whispers something I can't hear.

"There's the score you have to beat, 30 seconds on the clock, time begins...now" Joe says. "The Confederation bridge links Prince Edward island to what Canadian province?

"New Brunswick" Rick says, followed by a ding

"A minimum of how many games does it take to win a set in tennis?"

"7", BUZZ

"What was the name of the original home video game console introduced in 1972?"

"Magnavox Odyssey" DING

"Sauron reigned over what territory?"

"Mordor" DING

"Who spent 27 years in prison before being elected president of South Africa?"

"Nelson Mandela." DING

"In what Robert Bolt play does Sir Thomas face a moral dilemma?"

"A Man For All Seasons." DING

"Time." Joe shouts as the clock runs out, "That's it, 50 points, Degrassi wins! DEGRASSI WINS!"

It was like a God dam holiday, everyone was cheering & Rick was on cloud 9. Even I was standing & cheering for Rick.

"That's my best friend!" I shouted. Rick saw me & waved back. Rick was happy, why wouldn't he be? He'd led his team to victory & he was sure that everyone would love him & that Emma would now be his. Instead, yellow paint & feathers came down from the ceiling, ruining Rick's new suit. The room was quiet for a moment, then everyone started to laugh. Rick just stood there, covered in paint & feathers. I turned & saw Jay & Alex laughing, I stormed up to Jay.

"What the Hell man? I thought we were cool?" I shouted.

"Yeah, we're cool." he said referring to him & me. I looked back to Rick. The look on his face scared the shit out of me. I swear to God, it did.

After Rick left the gym, Emma & I caught up with him in the hall.

"Rick what happened...it only makes the people who did it look totally juvenile." Emma said, trying to comfort him. Rick turned around & I swear, the life in his eyes was gone.

"They ruined it, Emma." Rick said. "They're life ruiners, everyone laughing."

"But nobody's every going to forget who won, who is the smartest guy in the school & the whole city." Emma said.

"She's right Rick." I added, "you won Whack-Your-Brain, you're a winner." Rick smiled at me a little, then looked at Emma. Suddenly & without warning, he made a pass at her. He leaned in & kissed her.

"RICK!" she shouted, pushing him off, "what are you doing, let go." Rick had desperation in his eyes.

"I thought you loved me..." he almost whispered. Emma should have chosen her words carefully at this point, but she didn't.

"I felt sorry for you, I pitied you, get a clue." She said, handing him the Whack-Your-Brain trophy. I went up to Rick,

"She didn't mean it, she was just surprised, look, i'll go talk to her, Ok man." Rick didn't say a word, the damage had been done. Emma's true feelings were the straw that broke the camel's back

I finally caught up with Emma in the hall.

"What the fuck was that?" I said, turning her around.

"Are you talking about me or Rick?" she asked.

"You!" I shouted, I was losing it at this point. "Rick won Whack-Your-Brain, it was the best day of his life, then he gets covered in paint & feathers & he looks to you for comfort & you break his God dam heart."

"I don't love Rick, James. I'm not even sure I like him." She said all defensively.

"Look, if you're not interested in him, then you're not interested, but did you have to be such a bitch about it." I told her.

"Excuse me?"

You know what? I don't know what Rick sees in you. You're a know-it-all, you're impossible to please, & quite frankly, you're a royal pain in the ass!" I shouted. Emma gave me a death stare & then she struck me across the face & stormed off. I'd had it with this stupid school. I was leaving when suddenly, I ran into Paige Michalchuk.

"Hey James, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Did you see that happened to Rick?" I asked her.

"Yeah" she said n a quiet voice. "it was bad."

"I mean, it was the best day of his life & they..."I said as i started crying. Paige wrapped her arms around me.

"I'm sorry hun." she said as she held me. I'd never been interested in girls like Paige. They were such stuck up bitches, but there was something about her, the way she looked, the way she smelled, the way she felt, the way she talked. the feelings i'd had for Emma weren't as strong as these feelings.

"Do you want to come have lunch with me & Hazel?" she asked.

"I don't know..."

"Come on, please." she said.

I was about to answer her when suddenly Radtich's voice came over the intercom.

"JAMES DEAN STARK, COME TO MY OFFICE NOW! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOUR IN!"

I looked at Paige, "I'll come when i'm done with Raditch." i said.

"OK." Paige said as she started to walk off, "Oh & James."

"Yeah." I sad as she came up & put her lips close to my ear.

"You're the Catcher in the Rye." she said before walking off.

 **HEY MATAHARI, DO YOU THINK THAT THERE'S A CHANCE FOR PAMES (PAIGE/JAMES) LET ME KNOW. REVIEWS & INPUT APPRECIATED **


	23. Chapter 24

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI, THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN JAMES & RADITCH IS INSPIRED FROM THE VIDEO GAME, BULLY**

I walked away from Paige into Mr. Raditch's office. I was thinking about her, she was beautiful, but at the same time, I sensed this phoniness about her, I knew that as far as a relationship was concerned, if i could be her friend, that would be an accomplishment, because i knew that of we ever dated, it wouldn't work out. Anyway, I went into Raditch's office.

"Ah Stark, take a seat." he said as I sat down. "Now i'm not 1 to give into popular sentiment, but in your case, I think I can make an exception."

"An exception, nice." I replied as I waited to see where he was going with this.

"Indeed, aside from Richard Murray, you are the least popular boy at Degrassi, coincidentally, it has also come to my attention that you are nothing more than foul-mouthed hoodlum."

"Well, at least you didn't find out anything you didn't already know." I was being a real smart ass & he could tell.

"How droll, a comedian till the bitter end, well, Mr. Stark, you shall have to pursue your comedic talents elsewhere. Degrassi is not for you." I had about had it. Jay & Spinner had ruined Rick's life & here I was being chewed out for God knows what.

"You know what's really funny? You, You're a phony douche. You & your stuck up lame ass school. This place rewards bullies & morons & all I do is stand up to them. Then Raditch stood up, all red in the face.

"You doused Rick Murray in paint & feathers! I have it on good authority it was you." He shouted.

"Who told you that bull?" I asked, Rick was my friend, how could someone think that I ruined his life?

"A commendable pupil did feel the need to inform me that you were behind this outrage."

"Oh really, who snitched on me, huh? Spinner Mason?"

"No"

"Jay Hogart?"

"No."

"Alex Nunez?"

"I'm not at liberty to say." Raditch said, cutting me off.

"Oh my God, look, Rick may have been a little "hands-on" in his relationship with Terri. That was wrong, I admit it, but those kids are torturing him." I shouted.

"Alexandra Nunez is the Student Council Vice President, are you suggesting that she was behind this vile prank?" Raditch asked.

"I'm not suggesting it, I'm insisting on it!" I shouted

"She would never do something like that."

"You are blind, old man, blind!" I was really hitting the roof at that point.

'And you are leaving. I tried to contact your father, but he is...not feeling well."

"Not feeling well, bullshit, he's drunk off his ass!" I shouted.

"It doesn't matter, you will wait outside until your father comes to pick you up, you are leaving to attend to your education elsewhere, now get out!" Raditch announced. I was literally at the point of not caring anymore.

"FUCK YOU! I shouted as I tipped over the chair & stormed out.

As I waited outside, I saw Emma sitting with Toby, JT Yorke, & Danny Van Zandt. I decided to walk over to Emma.

"Hey Emma, can we talk?" I asked she turned to face me.

"Sure." She said as we walked away.

"Look Emma, i'm sorry about what I said." I told her

"i'm sorry I slapped you." She replied.

"It's just, what you said about Rick, how you pitied him, it upset me because..."

"Because why?"

"Because i'm worried that maybe that's how you feel about me." I said.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"I...had feelings for you, but I didn't ask you out because I knew Rick liked you & I didn't want to hurt him. I know how the world works, Emma. I've been expelled from Degrassi, I have no job, My old man's an abusive drunk, I have nothing to offer you & I know that."

"I'm sorry James, i'm so sorry." she said as she hugged me.

I saw Toby walking away from Rick, he was still wearing the suit covered in paint & feathers & I wanted to talk to him. "Just promise me that you won't stop being the Cause Girl, Ok. That's the best part about you." Emma nodded as I walked over to Rick.

"James." she called out after me, I turned to face her. "Why can't you catch a break?"

I had been asking that question for years. "I don't know, Emma" I said as I went over to Rick. "Hey Rick." I said, Rick looked at me, he was carrying his backpack. "Are you OK?" I asked.

"Never better." he said sarcastically.

"Look, I just wanted to say goodbye." I told him.

"See you tomorrow."

I sighed. "No Rick, you won't...I got the ax again." Rick looked at me in shock.

"Why?" he asked.

"Someone told Raditch that I was behind the paint & feathers & he expelled me, no questions asked." I told him.

"Typical, the guilty are rewarded while the innocent are punished." he said in a quiet voice.

"No shit, Raditch is just waiting for my old man to sober up, then i'm gone."

"James, I have a favor to ask." Rick said.

"Anything man."

"No matter what happens, don't forget about me, OK."

"For sure." I said. "I'm sure Raditch wouldn't raise Hell if you took the rest of the day off."

"Like I told Toby, this is the 1 time I actually want to be at school." Rick said as he went inside. I sat down on the steps, thinking about what he said. I should've stopped him, right then & there, but I didn't & as a consequence, we both almost died that day.

 **REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	24. Chapter 25

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI OR THE DIALOGUE**

I sat outside for awhile, waiting for my old man to come get me, but I couldn't stop thinking about what Rick had said. It scared me, I swear to God, it did. It made me think that he was going to hurt himself...or someone else. After a few minutes of debating, I went inside to try & find him. I looked around for Rick & I didn't see him. I went into the lunchroom but he wan't there either. Then, I rushed into the boys washroom & it looked like he had been in there. I ran out & I finally saw him talking to Jimmy Brooks.

"How you holding up?" Jimmy asked.

"Good" Rick said, his voice sounding dead.

"That's good. kinda surprised to see you this afternoon."

"Yeah, I bet you are." I got closer to them & I saw that Rick had a hand in his backpack, he was reaching for something.

"Look, i'm sorry about everything that happened." Jimmy said. "& if those guys give you anymore problems, i got your back."

"You stabbed me in the back." Rick replied. "You set the whole thing up."

"Come on Rick, I defended you." Jimmy said as Rick pulled out a pistol from his bag.I couldn't believe it. I knew Rick was pissed, but I didn't think that he would actually bring a gun to school.

"RICK!" I shouted as I walked over. "WHAT THE FUCK?" Rick & Jimmy both turned to me.

"All this time, Jimmy pretended to be my friend." Rick said.

"I was your friend." Jimmy said.

"Who told you?" I asked.

"Jay & Spinner."

"That's what they said & you believed them?" I shouted as I collapsed on the ground. I was crying at this point. I'd tried to make Degrassi work. I'd tried to be friends with Rick & with Emma. Now, it seemed like it was all in vain. Everything that i'd been carrying inside, dealing with the phonies, dealing my abusive old man, I couldn't take it anymore. I'd had enough. I swear to God, I had

"That's it." I said through my tears. "I'm done."

"What do you mean, man?" Jimmy asked as he & Rick both looked at me. I looked up at Rick.

"Give me the gun, Rick." He looked at me in fear, as if he could read my God dam mind. I got up & shoved him against a locker. "GIVE ME THE DAMN GUN!" I shouted as I took the gun from his hand & ran off. I ran past all the room as I found the stairway that lead to the roof. I ran up & I found myself on the roof of Degrassi. I could see the sky & despite the day's horror, it still looked beautiful. I paced around, I had nothing to say, not even to myself. I knew what was about to happen, what I was about to do. I looked up at the bright yellow sun & the clear blue sky for a few minutes. I held the gun in my hand tightly.

"JAMES!"

I turned around & I saw Emma, Rick, & Jimmy running up to me. They were scared shitless. I could see it on their faces.

"Don't come any closer." I said through my tears as I put Rick's gun to my head, "or i'll do it."

Emma had tears in her eyes as Rick just looked shocked. I'd checked the gun, it was fully loaded. Rick had come back to Degrassi with the intention to kill.

"Please James, don't do this. You have a lot to live for." Rick said.

"SCREW YOU!" I shouted through my tears. "I have nothing to live for. My old man gets drunk every hour on the hour & beats the shit out of me, but that's not the worst part, do you know what the worst part is? I'm alone... the whole world around me is teeming with life, but I can't connect with anyone. I tried with Rick & he tried to pull a Columbine, I tried with Emma, but I had to give her up because I didn't want to hurt you. I LOVED HER RICK! I let the best thing that ever happened to me go so that the worst thing that ever happened to me would have some hope that his crappy life would get better!" I screamed. Rick looked down in shame as Emma started crying. She looked at me.

"James, you can't kill yourself." Emma said. "You are an amazing person, you stood up for Rick when they...when I was making his life Hell, you took a beating just so we could have an amazing time in Buffalo. You put aside your feelings to make sure that Rick was OK. You are the most selfless person i know. You're my best friend, I don't want you to leave." She said as she came closer to me. She looked so beautiful. "Give me the gun, James." she said. I slowly put the gun in her hand & then she threw it aside as I collapsed on the ground & cried my eyes out. She held me as I cried, comforting me. We held each other as Rick wept silently. Jimmy just stood there, shocked by what had happened. We just stayed on that roof for a while, crying as we bathed in the yellow light of the still shining sun.

 **PANTHER IN THE RYE IS ALMOST FINISHED, THERE'LL BE A SURPRISE CAMEO AT THE END. WHO WILL IT BE? REVIEWS APPRECIATED.**

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	25. Chapter 26

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

The next few days passed in a haze. The cops were called to the school, but there was no mention of an attempted school shooting. Instead the official story was that An unknown student had brought the firearm to school & that I'd somehow gotten my hands on it & attempted suicide. Classes were suspended for 3 days while Raditch tried to do serious damage control. It didn't work however, Snake told the school board that Rick had gone to Raditch several times about the intense bullying & he had done nothing. Raditch was given the choice of resigning due to personal reasons or being fired for failing to do his duty as a principle. He chose to resign in order to save his career, or what was left of it. Ms. Hatzilakos ended up replacing him, She seems OK to me. During that time, Mrs. Murray took Rick to a psychiatrist after he told her where I'd gotten the gun. As for me, once my old ma heard what I'd done, he threw my ass out on the streets.

"You're a mistake." he said as he threw my shit out. "I wish she'd never head you!" he shouted, referring to my mom. A few days later, the brewery he worked at got him transferred to New Glarus in Wisconsin, so he moved away from Toronto, leaving me with no home & no family.

The day after my old man left, Ms. Hatzilakos contacted me to set up a meeting. I went back to Degrassi & I was called into her new office.

"Hello James, how are you doing?" She asked.

"What kind of question is that?" I asked. She got quiet at that remark.

"I was looking over your expulsion report. There was no evidence to pin you to what happened to Rick. Only Alex Nunez's testimony, but she was very biased against you & Rick. I believe that you were expelled unfairly & I'd like to let you come back." She said, assuming that i'd be happy, but how could I. They tortured Rick & I for months & got away with it. I looked back at Hatzilakos.

"I'm not interested." I said, looking her right in the eye. "This school is a horrible place & I don't want anything more to do with it." Ms. Hatzilakos looked back at me.

"If you truly think that, then I understand, but I think that you're making a big mistake." She said. I said nothing as I walked out.

I went into a downward spiral after that, I started drinking, just like my old man. I got drunk all the time, I got into bar fights, you name it. It all came to a head 1 night, when I'd left a bar that I was drinking at & I was trying to find someplace to sleep when all of the sudden, I heard someone call my name. I turned around & I saw Emma. She was standing behind me.

"Well look what we have here, it's Cause Girl. What are you doing here?" I said, drunk as Hell. Emma didn't say anything. She just stood there,tears running down her face.

"James, what are you doing with your life?" she asked softly. "Do you want to be life your dad?"

That stopped me cold. I looked at myself & I realized that I was turning into my old man. I broke down & started crying.

"I didn't want you to see me like this." I said through my tears. Emma came over & held me tight.

"Please James, get help, go to rehab or something." She said as she wiped my tears with her fingers. "I'll be here when you get back."

 **ONLY 2 MORE CHAPTERS LEFT OF _PANTHER IN THE RYE_ , WE SEE A SURPRISE GUEST IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	26. Chapter 27

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

I eventually checked myself into this Rehab facility a few days after my confrontation with Emma. I met this really cool guy called Dr. Greg. He reminded me of Dr. House. He diagnosed me with PTSD & told me that I was using alcohol to cope. He started showing me all these 12 step techniques, like, if I feel like drinking, I should describe the room i'm in. He also told me that I should write down my feelings & what led me to drink. That's why i'm writing all this. I spent about 3 months in rehab, finally, Dr. Greg said that I could go home. As I was packing my bags, Dr. Greg came into my room.

"So James, you're finally leaving us?" He said as I was packing.

"Yep, I'm actually gonna miss this place." I replied.

"Listen James, I was wondering if you could do me a couple of favors."

"Sure, like what?"

"First, I think that you should take Hatzilakos up on her offer & go back to Degrassi." I groaned, that was definitely not what I wanted to hear.

"I can't Dr. Greg, that place was horrible." I told him.

"James come on, you've made so much progress, I wouldn't ask you to do it if i didn't think you could handle it. Besides, you could spend more time with Emma." he said, teasing me.

"I'll think about it." I said laughing. "What's the other favor?"

"I read what you wrote & it was beyond amazing, I think you should publish it." Dr Greg told me.

"I'm not really an Edgar Allan Poe." I said, laughing.

"Will you consider it, I think it could help other dudes who are going through what you're going through."

"Fine, i'll consider it." I told him as I finished packing. He came up & shook my hand.

"Goodbye James, hope I never see you in this place again." He said

"Likewise." I replied.

After I left the rehab facility, I got on a bus to take me back to Toronto. As I got off the bus, I saw this really hot chick sitting on the bench. She had blonde hair & a cute face, she was a little chubby, but in a sexy way. I sat down next to her. She looked me & smiled.

"Hi." she said.

"What's up?" I replied.

"Not much, just got out of class, waiting for my dad to pick me up."

"where do you go to school?"

"I used to go to Degrassi, now I go to a private school, it's for special needs, I had an accident & I have short term memory loss, once in a blue moon."

"I used to go to Degrassi too, I got the ax for something I didn't even do." I told her.

"I'm sorry." she said.

"Yeah, me too." I said, laughing.

"You know something? You look like a greaser." She said smiling.

"That's what I was going for. You know something, you're really pretty, you should be like a model."

"I used to be, until my accident." She said as a car pulled up, I assumed that her old man was driving. "I gotta go...but you should call me sometime."

"Sure." I said as I gave her my phone number. She got up & walked to the car. "Wait a minute, I didn't get your name. Mine's James. James Stark." I called out.

"Mine's Terri. Terri Mcgregor." She said as she got in the car.

 **THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE LAST. I TOLD YOU THERE WOULD BE A SPECIAL CAMEO. REVIEWS APPRECIATED**


	27. Chapter 28

**I DON'T OWN DEGRASSI**

That is where my story of my time at Degrassi ends. I'm glad that I'm done, because let me tell you, If I'd known how hard it was to write a book, I wouldn't have done it.

When I got back to Toronto, Mrs. Murray said that I could stay with her & Rick until I got back on my feet. Rick went to some intense therapy over the summer & he's a lot

better now. I still keep in touch with Terri. She's actually a really cool chick, She still doesn't know that I'm friends with Rick & I don't know if I mean to tell her. Sometimes,

certain things are better left unsaid. I swear to God, they are. I've also been spending a lot of time with Emma. We've gotten a lot closer & bit my bit, those old feelings that I

had for Emma have come back with a vengeance. Well, before I quit, there's just 1 more thing that I want to say. Rick Murray taught me a lot of things in the short time that

we were friends, but the most important thing he taught me was the way the world works. You see, it's like this: Degrassi is a big giant field of rye & we're all playing in it:

me, Rick, Emma, Terri, Toby, Spinner, Paige, Jay, Alex, & even Snake. We all play in the field, but sometimes, a panther gets in & attacks us & tears you down. Sometimes

we can fight it off, sometimes not. However, sometimes we can be the real monsters. We can forget that we're all human beings & we torture each other in inhuman ways for

all sorts of reasons & sometimes for no reason at all. At Degrassi, I saw humanity in its best & worst forms. Sometimes we're capable of great love & kindness like Emma did

when she saved my life, but other times, we can turn into savage beasts like Jay & Alex. You see, when you forget that everyone is special, you become the panther in the

rye. Why are we so brutal to each other some times...I don't know. So, I guess the question is, Are you the panther in the rye? It's all up to you...

 **PANTHER IN THE RYE IS FINISHED. I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE WHO READ THIS STORY & 2 PEOPLE IN PARTICULAR: MATAHARI 2018 & ELLE WINNIE, YOUR REVIEWS MEANT MORE THAN YOU KNOW, BUT STICK AROUND, BECAUSE TOMORROW I"LL MAKE AN ANNOUCEMENT ABOUT THE FUTURE OF JAMES STARK. REVIEWS APPRECIATED.**


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